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2018 Election Results

Four incumbents re-elected to CREC Board of Directors

Members of Cuivre River Electric Cooperative (CREC) elected four directors at their annual meeting on August 10 at the St. Charles Family Arena in St. Charles. Just over 1,950 attended the event.

In the four districts with seats open, the four incumbents who chose to run for re-election were selected by members for new three-year terms, continuing their service to the cooperative.

Michael (Mick) Burkemper of Moscow Mills, who has been a board member for 24 years, was re-elected in Lincoln County District 3. In Warren County District 2, Keith Luecke of Warrenton, who finished his first term as a board member, was re-elected for a second term. Mark Schulte, an 18-year board member from O’Fallon, was re-elected to St. Charles County District 1. Finally, in St. Charles County District 3, Dale Anderson of Lake Saint Louis was re-elected to a third term as a board member.

Attendance at the cooperative’s annual meeting has declined over the years, however, more members have taken advantage of the option to vote absentee, either online or by paper ballot, since the cooperative’s bylaws changed in 2015 to count absentee votes toward quorum necessary for the election. In the last two years, with absentee voting, quorum has been reached before the annual meeting was ever held. This year, 2,163 of the election’s total 2,817 votes were cast absentee.

“The election of board members is a key annual event for our cooperative, as it provides our members with a say in who governs their cooperative,” said Doug Tracy, CREC General Manager/CEO. “With everyone’s busy lives, it’s not always possible to attend the annual meeting and vote in person, so having the absentee voting option means that members don’t have to miss out in selecting their co-op’s board of directors.”

As in years past, attendance prizes including free electricity were awarded. New this year were prizes for both absentee voters and for those who voted at the annual meeting. This year’s winners of free electricity were:

In addition, 12 more members each won a free month of electricity, and 16 others won numerous other prizes including concert tickets, amusement park tickets, Cardinal baseball tickets and a variety of other gift cards.

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